Germany halts gas pipeline as Russian moves closer to Ukraine invasion

With Russian President Vladimir Putin likely to invade Ukraine, President Joe Biden is warning that the United States will impose tough economic sanctions against Russia if he follows through — and Biden has been in close contact with the United States’ NATO allies about the crisis. One of those allies is Germany, which gets a lot of gas from Russia. And Germany, according to the Wall Street Journal, has “halted the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into breakaway Ukraine regions, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday.”

WSJ reports, “The pipeline was set to double direct Russian gas exports to the country and has been awaiting formal approval since last October. The German agency in charge of certification had recently suspended the process and said it wouldn’t resume before the second half of the year. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is considering severing diplomatic relations with Russia in response to Mr. Putin’s decision, as reports grew of Russian troops moving into the area.”

Germany is the largest economy in the European Union.

At a press conference on Tuesday, February 22, Zelensky said of Russia and Putin, “Ukraine must react to this, defending its sovereignty and statehood.”